Trouble in Senate meeting over S P Thyagarajan chairing

Chennai, June 28 (UNI) Pandemonium broke out and frayed tempers were witnessed at the Senate meeting of Madras University today, forcing the authorities to call in the police to defuse the situation.

The moment the meeting began, trouble started when members opposed Vice-Chancellor S P Thyagarajan chairing it as the Madras High Court was hearing a case against him alleging impropriety.

Prof Thyagarajan had been in the centre of controversy after a petition was filed against him in the court alleging irregularities.

Since the tenure of Mr Thyagarajan ended in September this year, the meeting was convened to nominate a member for the Search Committee to recommend the name of the next Vice-Chancellor.

As the meeting was called to order, Senate members G Sivasubramanium and R Ramanujam, representing the Tamil Nadu Government College Teachers Association (TNGCTA) and Association of University Teachers (AUT), raised slogans against the Vice-Chancellor and disrupted the proceedings.

A visibly upset Prof Thyagarajan said the members were behaving in a disorderly manner and asked them to leave. He said as per the University Act, he had the power to chair the meeting.

As the slogan-shouting members continued to stall the proceedings, the Vice-Chancellor called the police, who were waiting outside the hall, to remove the agitators.

Meanwhile, other members intervened and requested the police to vacate the place. The meeting continued.

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